Secure payment service and system for interactive voice response (IVR) systems

ABSTRACT

A secure payment method, system or computer readable medium for a merchant&#39;s interactive voice response system are disclosed. The merchant&#39;s interactive voice response system receives customer calls and requests a payment from the customer. The customer responds to the request by providing over a data network authentication information and payment amounts for a payment service. The payment service provides the customer with a token which is communicated to the merchant&#39;s interactive voice response system, and the merchant&#39;s interactive voice response system transmits the token back to the payment service. Upon validating the token, the payment service issues an electronic payment or payment information to the merchant. The merchant&#39;s interactive voice response system announces a successful payment to the customer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to an electronic paymentservice or system, and more particularly to an electronic paymentservice or system that allows a secure payment to be made to aparticipating merchant interactive voice response system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An interactive voice response system, which is sometimes referred to asa Call Tree, includes both hardware and a software application thataccepts a combination of voice telephone input and/or touch-tone keypadselection and provides appropriate responses. An interactive voiceresponse system is usually a part of a larger application that includesdatabase access.

Merchant interactive voice response systems are generally not designedto handle secure electronic payments without the intervention of ahuman, who actually takes the order and queries the caller for paymentor credit card information. Customers commonly issue authorizations tomerchants over the telephone, but the process is relatively slow,cumbersome and relatively expensive due to the cost of live customerservice employees and the amount of information involved. The customerservice employees typically prompt customers for many pieces ofinformation such as credit card numbers, expiration dates, securitycode, name on the credit card, credit card billing address, telephonenumber, etc. The obtained information must then be manually entered intoa computer system, thereby contributing to the slowness and expense ofthe process.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a method, system, and computerreadable medium for providing secure payments. An interactive voiceresponse (IVR) system under the control of a merchant receives callsfrom at least one customer having a communications device. Themerchant's interactive voice response system requests a payment from thecustomer, and the customer responds to the request by providingauthentication information and payment amounts for a payment service.The payment service provides the customer with a token having a paymentservice ID number and a one time use transaction ID number. The customerprovides the token information to the merchant's interactive voiceresponse system which transmits the token information back to thepayment service. The payment service issues an electronic payment orpayment information to the merchant upon validation of the tokeninformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a secure payment system that includes amerchant's interactive voice response system.

FIG. 1B is a more detailed block diagram of the interactive voiceresponse system, communication device and payment service.

FIG. 2 an activity diagram for the secure payment system and merchantinteractive voice response system of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computer system that can be used toimplement various embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure, through one or more ofits various aspects, embodiments and/or specific features orsub-components, is thus intended to bring out one or more of theadvantages as specifically noted below.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a secure paymentmethod is implemented in conjunction with an interactive voice response(IVR) service under the control of a merchant for receiving calls fromat least one customer having a communications device. The merchant'sinteractive voice response service requests a payment from the customer,and the merchant's interactive voice response service receives aresponse from the customer that includes authentication information andpayment amounts for a payment service. The payment services provides thecustomer with a token having a payment service ID number token and a onetime use transaction ID number token. The merchant's interactive voiceresponse service receives the token information from the customer, andthe merchant's interactive voice response service transmits the tokeninformation back to the payment service, which issues an electronicpayment or payment information to the merchant upon validating the tokeninformation.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the customerutilizes a communications device selected from the group comprising acell phone, a personal computer, a PDA, an Internet appliance, a videogame console, or a television set top box, to call the interactive voiceresponse service.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device communicates with the merchant's interactive voiceresponse service with either a wired or wireless link.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device establishes a link to the merchant's interactivevoice response service via a PSTN or VoIP network.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device establishes a link to the payment service via adata network or the Internet.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the paymentservice establishes a link to a financial partner that provides thepayment service with electronic payment information.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the merchant'sinteractive voice response service announces the completion of asuccessful transaction to the customer.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, an applet isinstalled on the communications device for communication with thepayment service.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device communicates with the merchant's interactive voiceresponse service using DTMF signaling.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a securepayment system includes an interactive voice response server forreceiving calls from at least one communications device. The interactivevoice response server requests payment information from thecommunications device, and the interactive voice response serverreceives from the communications device authentication information andpayment amounts for a payment service server. The payment service serverprovides the communications device with a token having a payment serviceID number and a one time use transaction ID number. The interactivevoice response server receives the token information from thecommunications device and transmits the token information back to thepayment service server, which issues an electronic payment or paymentinformation to the interactive voice response server upon validating thetoken information.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device is selected from the group comprising a cellphone, a personal computer, a PDA, an Internet appliance, a video gameconsole, or a television set top box, to call the interactive voiceresponse server.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device communicates with the merchant's interactive voiceresponse server with either a wired or wireless link.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device establishes a link to the merchant's interactivevoice response system via a PSTN or VoIP network.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device establishes a link to the payment service via adata network or the Internet.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the paymentsystem establishes a link to a financial partner.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the merchant'sinteractive voice response server announces the completion of asuccessful transaction to the communications device.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, an applet isinstalled on the communications device for communication with thepayment service server.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device communicates with the merchant's interactive voiceresponse server using DTMF signaling.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a computerreadable medium for providing secure payments includes an interactivevoice response server code segment for receiving calls from at least onecommunications device code segment. The interactive voice responseserver code segment requests payment information from the communicationsdevice code segment, and the interactive voice response server codesegment receives from the communications device code segment theauthentication information and payment amounts for a payment serviceserver code segment. The payment service server code segment providesthe communications device code segment with a token having a paymentservice ID number and a one time use transaction ID number. Theinteractive voice response server code segment receives from thecommunications device code segment the token information, and theinteractive voice response server code segment transmits the tokeninformation back to the payment service server code segment, whichissues an electronic payment or payment information to the interactivevoice response server code segment upon validating the tokeninformation.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, thecommunications device code segment is executable on a cell phone, apersonal computer, a PDA, an Internet appliance, a video game console,or a television set top box.

The secure payment system disclosed herein exploits the datacapabilities of a customers' communications device, and particularlyexploits data-capable cell phones. The secure payment system provides amechanism for merchants to easily accept payments over an interactivevoice response system without invoking customer service representatives.It furthermore allows customers of the merchant to issue payments with afew simple key presses from their data-capable cell phones.

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram for a secure payment system 100 of thepresent invention. The system 100 includes a merchant interactive voiceresponse system 101 that a caller may access through the PSTN or VoIPnetwork 102. Preferably, the user accesses the interactive voiceresponse system 101 with a wireless device 103 or some other intelligentcommunications device (wireless or wired) that includes a softwaremodule such as an applet configured for use with the secure paymentsystem 100. Both the interactive voice response system 101 and thewireless device 103 have access to a data network 104, such as theInternet, and the data network 104 provides the interactive voiceresponse system 101 and wireless device 103 with access to a serviceprovider/payment provider 105 and its partners 106-108. The serviceprovider/payment service 105 may be an organization such as AT&T®, andthe partners 106-108 could include companies such as VISA®, Mastercard®,Paypal® and Verisign®. In another embodiment, service provider 105 maynot exist as a separate entity independent of partners 106, 107 and 108.In other words, partners 106, 107 and 108 may perform the functions ofthe service provider 105, may be directly connected to the data network104 and may communicate directly with the merchant interactive voiceresponse system 101 and wireless device 103. An applet is used herein todemonstrate an embodiment of a software module that may reside on device103, but any suitable software module type may be used. It should benoted, that, if an independent service provider 105 is not included inthe overall system of FIG. 1A, the target partners 106, 107 or 108 maybe uniquely identified using any combinations of physical keys, softkeys and menus.

In order to utilize and participate in the secure payment system 100,the caller or customer must first have or download an applet on to thewireless device 103 or intelligent communications device. The applet ispreferably password protected or protected by a biometric informationinput device, in case the wireless device 103 is lost or stolen. Theuser may also store payment information, such as credit card informationor bank information, in order to avoid the repetitious entry of data andto enhance the rapid transfer of financial information to the system.

FIG. 1B shows the interactive voice response system 101, communicationsdevice 103 and payment service 105 in more detail. The interactive voiceresponse system 101 which is under the control of a merchant includes acall receiver module 111 for receiving calls from at least one customerhaving a communications device 103. The merchant's interactive voiceresponse service system 101 requests a payment from the customer, andthe customer responds by providing authentication information andpayment amounts to the payment service 105 from an authorization andpayment amount module 112. In order to transmit the authorization andpayment amounts, secure sessions modules 117, 118 are utilized to setupa secure session between the communications device 103 and the paymentservice 105. The payment service 105 provides the customer'scommunications device 103 with a token having a payment service IDnumber token and a one time use transaction ID number token. The paymentservice ID number is provided by a payment service ID number module 113,and the one time use ID token number is provided by a one time use IDtoken number module 114. The customer's communications device 103provides the token information to the merchant's interactive voiceresponse system 101 which transmits the token information back to thepayment service 105 utilizing secure session module 116. The paymentservice 105 issues an electronic payment or payment information to themerchant from an electronic payment and authorization module 115, uponvalidating the token information.

FIG. 2 shows an activity diagram for the secure payment system 100 andthe merchant interactive voice response system 101 of FIGS. 1A and 1B.After the customer has had the relatively simple applet installed on hiswireless device 103, and after the customer has entered the appropriateidentification data and payment information for the first time, thecustomer is ready to place a telephone call to the merchant system 101as indicated in step #1. As mentioned above, the preferred wirelessdevice 103 is a data capable cell phone, but any wired or wirelessintelligent communications device can be utilized, including a personalcomputer, PDA, Internet appliance, video game console, television settop box, etc. The call of step #1 links the caller's device 103 to themerchant interactive voice response system 101 and allows the customerto interact with the merchant's interactive voice response system 101using key presses and DTMF signaling as is customary in the art.

After the customer has indicated to the merchant interactive voiceresponse system 101 that the customer wants to purchase the merchant'sproducts or services, the interactive voice response system 101 requestspayment information from the caller's device 103 in step #2. Theinteractive voice response system 101 also indicates to the customerthat it will accept a secure payment from the customer using the serviceprovider's payment service 105. In response to the request for paymentinformation, the customer in step #3 presses a payment key on hiswireless device 103. The payment key may be a dedicated key labeled“PAY”, a softkey or even one of the keys present on a conventionalkeypad. At this point, the applet on the wireless device 103 prompts theuser to enter a password or PIN. Alternatively, the customer can beprompted to provide biometric information such as identityauthentication information via a finger printer reader, a voicerecognition device or an iris recognition device. The identifyauthentication information can be converted into a PIN. The applet alsoprompts the customer to enter a monetary amount, which can be enteredvia a keyboard or a voice input. Lastly, the applet provides thecommunications address, i.e., in this embodiment the telephone number ofthe interactive voice response system 101 (which is extracted from thecurrent call), the PIN and the monetary amount to the payment service105 via a secure session (for example, SSL) over the data network 104.

In step #4, the payment service 105 validates the PIN, and responds witha numeric token containing a payment service ID number and a one-timeuse transaction ID number. The numeric token is communicated back to thewireless device 103 via the data network 104. In step #5, the wirelessdevice 103 plays out the numeric token to the merchant interactive voiceresponse system 101 using DTMF signaling in the original voice call setup over the PSTN or VoIP network 102. In response to the DTMF signalsprovided by the wireless device 103, the interactive voice responsesystem 101 in step #6 looks up the URL for the payment service 105 basedon the payment service ID provided, and the interactive voice responsesystem 101 establishes a secure session (for example, SSL) to thepayment service 105 via the data network 104. The interactive voiceresponse system 101 also provides the payment service 105 with theone-time use transaction ID. Reference is made to numeric IDs and tokensin this document to illustrate particular implementations using digitsonly. But, the same mechanism can be utilized with various alphanumericencodings and alphanumeric tokens.

In step #7, the payment service verifies that the merchant interactivevoice response system 101 requesting payment corresponds to thetelephone number provided in the initial request. Such a request avoidsissues in which the transaction ID may have been compromised on the PSTNor VoIP connection. The payment service 105 validates the one time usetransaction ID, and either issues an electronic payment or provides theappropriate credentials (for example, credit card information, addressetc. to the merchant interactive voice response system 101). Lastly, instep #8 the interactive voice response system 101 announces to thecustomer that payment has been received from the payment service 105.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative embodiment of a general computer system, onwhich secure payment system 100 can be implemented and is designated300. The secure payment system 100 is preferably implemented using aplurality of computers 300. For example, the merchant interactive voiceresponse system 101, wireless device 103 and payment service 105 allinclude one or more suitably programmed computer systems 300. Thecomputer system 300 includes a set of instructions 384 that can beexecuted to cause the computer system 300 to perform any one or more ofthe methods or computer based functions disclosed herein. The computersystem 300 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g.,using a network 301, to other computer systems or peripheral devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the computer system 300 may include aprocessor 310, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or both. Moreover, the computer system 300 caninclude a main memory 320 and a static memory 330 that can communicatewith each other via a bus 308. As shown, the computer system 300 mayfurther include a video display unit 350, such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a flat paneldisplay, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT).Additionally, the computer system 300 may include an input device 360,such as a keyboard, and a cursor control device 370, such as a mouse.The computer system 300 can also include a disk drive unit 380, a signalgeneration device 390, such as a speaker or remote control, and anetwork interface device 340.

In a networked deployment, the computer system 300 may operate in thecapacity of a server or as a client user computer in a server-clientuser network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer(or distributed) network environment. The computer system 300 can alsobe implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a palmtop computer, a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wirelesstelephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner,a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any other machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine. In a particularembodiment, the computer system 300 can be implemented using electronicdevices that provide voice, video or data communication. Further, whilea single computer system 300 is illustrated, the term “system” shallalso be taken to include any collection of systems or sub-systems thatindividually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, of instructionsto perform one or more computer functions.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 3, a disk drive unit 380may include a computer-readable medium 382 in which one or more sets ofinstructions 384, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, theinstructions 384 may embody one or more of the methods or logic asdescribed herein. In a particular embodiment, the instructions 384 mayreside completely, or at least partially, within the main memory 320,the static memory 330, and/or within the processor 310 during executionby the computer system 300. The main memory 320 and the processor 310also may include computer-readable media.

In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, suchas application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arraysand other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods described herein. Applications that may include theapparatus and systems of various embodiments can broadly include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, thepresent system encompasses software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

The present disclosure contemplates a computer-readable medium 382 thatincludes instructions 384 or receives and executes instructions 384responsive to a propagated signal, so that a device connected to anetwork 301 can communicate voice, video or data over the network 301.Further, the instructions 384 may be transmitted or received over thenetwork 301 via the network interface device 340.

While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, theterm “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution bya processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or moreof the methods or operations disclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be arandom access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally,the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to capturecarrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmissionmedium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one ormore of a computer-readable medium and other equivalents and successormedia, in which data or instructions may be stored.

There are several advantages that the secure electronic payment systemprovides over conventional systems. For example, the secure electronicpayment system reduces a merchant's operational costs by allowingpayments to be processed without involving a customer servicerepresentative. The system encourages customers to make payments byphone, since the customer only has to make a few key-presses, and theprocess takes less time than to talking to a live customer servicerepresentative. The system can be added relatively easily to acommunications company's existing infrastructure without substantialmodification of the existing infrastructure. Lastly, the system can beimplemented with a high level of security through the use of secure datasessions (for example, SSL), PIN based or biometric basedauthentication, one time use transaction ID's, and validation of themapping of an interactive voice response called number to the actualmerchant requesting payment.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsthat may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference toparticular standards and protocols, the invention is not limited to suchstandards and protocols. For example, standards for Internet and otherpacket switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP)represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards areperiodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards andprotocols having the same or similar functions as those disclosed hereinare considered equivalents thereof.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the illustrations are merely representational and may notbe drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may beexaggerated, while other proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, thedisclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan restrictive.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein,individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover,although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangementdesigned to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted forthe specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover anyand all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b) and is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may begrouped together or described in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed toless than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus,the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimedsubject matter.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

Although the disclosure has been described with reference to severalexemplary embodiments, it is understood that the words that have beenused are words of description and illustration, rather than words oflimitation. Changes may be made within the purview of the appendedclaims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from thescope and spirit of the disclosure in its aspects. Although thedisclosure has been described with reference to particular means,materials and embodiments, the disclosure is not intended to be limitedto the particulars disclosed; rather, the disclosure extends to allfunctionally equivalent structures, methods, and uses such as are withinthe scope of the appended claims.

1. A secure payment method, comprising: an interactive voice responseservice under the control of a merchant for receiving calls from atleast one customer having a communications device, the merchant'sinteractive voice response service requesting a payment from thecustomer, the merchant's interactive voice response service receiving aresponse from the customer that includes authentication information andpayment amounts for a payment service which provides the customer with atoken having a payment service ID number token and a one time usetransaction ID number token, the merchant's interactive voice responseservice receiving from the customer the token information, themerchant's interactive voice response service transmitting the tokeninformation back to the payment service which issues an electronicpayment or payment information to the merchant upon validating the tokeninformation.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the customerutilizes a communications device selected from the group comprising acell phone, a personal computer, a PDA, an Internet appliance, a videogame console, or a television set top box, to call the interactive voiceresponse service.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein thecommunications device communicates with the merchant's interactive voiceresponse service with either a wired or wireless link.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the communications device establishes alink to the merchant's interactive voice response service via a PSTN orVoIP network.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein thecommunications device establishes a link to the payment service via adata network or the Internet.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein the payment service establishes a link to a financial partnerthat provides the payment service with electronic payment information.7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the merchant's interactivevoice response service announces the completion of a successfultransaction to the customer.
 8. The method according to claim 1, whereinan applet is installed on the communications device for communicationwith the payment service.
 9. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe communications device communicates with the merchant's interactivevoice response service using DTMF signaling.
 10. A secure paymentsystem, comprising: an interactive voice response server for receivingcalls from at least one communications device, the interactive voiceresponse server requesting payment information from the communicationsdevice, the interactive voice response server receiving from thecommunications device authentication information and payment amounts fora payment service server which provides the communications device with atoken having a payment service ID number and a one time use transactionID number, the interactive voice response server receiving the tokeninformation from the communications device and transmitting the tokeninformation back to the payment service server which issues anelectronic payment or payment information to the interactive voiceresponse server upon validating the token information.
 11. The systemaccording to claim 10, wherein the communications device is selectedfrom the group comprising a cell phone, a personal computer, a PDA, anInternet appliance, a video game console, or a television set top box,to call the interactive voice response server.
 12. The system accordingto claim 11, wherein the communications device communicates with themerchant's interactive voice response server with either a wired orwireless link.
 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein thecommunications device establishes a link to the merchant's interactivevoice response system via a PSTN or VoIP network.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the communications device establishes alink to the payment service via a data network or the Internet.
 15. Thesystem according to claim 10, wherein the payment system establishes alink to a financial partner.
 16. The system according to claim 10,wherein the merchant's interactive voice response server announces thecompletion of a successful transaction to the communications device. 17.The system according to claim 10, wherein an applet is installed on thecommunications device for communication with the payment service server.18. The system according to claim 10, wherein the communications devicecommunicates with the merchant's interactive voice response server usingDTMF signaling.
 19. A non-transitory computer readable medium forproviding secure payments, comprising: an interactive voice responseserver code segment for receiving calls from at least one communicationsdevice code segment, the interactive voice response server code segmentrequesting payment information from the communications device codesegment, the interactive voice response server code segment receivingfrom the communications device code segment the authenticationinformation and payment amounts for a payment service server codesegment which provides the communications device code segment with atoken having a payment service ID number and a one time use transactionID number, the interactive voice response server code segment receivingfrom the communications device code segment the token information, theinteractive voice response server code segment transmitting the tokeninformation back to the payment service server code segment which issuesan electronic payment or payment information to the interactive voiceresponse server code segment upon validating the token information. 20.The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 19,wherein the communications device code segment is executable on a cellphone, a personal computer, a PDA, an Internet appliance, a video gameconsole, or a television set top box.